Do you have a passion for helping others succeed? Are you a stickler for dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s? Do you thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative work environment? Are you a self-starter that knows how to get things done? Do you like having your hand in a little bit of everything?
As the Director, Operations you will have the unique opportunity to work closely with our CEO, Elisa Villanueva Beard, to ensure she is positioned to advance our organizational priorities by strategically managing her time, and advising senior leaders on how to best leverage our CEO to advance their work. You will help drive critical cross-functional initiatives by providing strategic and operational support to projects managed by the OCEO. You will also serve as the official team expert on all things relating to finance, risk, and compliance, and the operational mastermind for national board meetings.
The ideal candidate:
- excels in a dynamic, high-stakes environment and can effectively juggle multiple time-sensitive tasks at once
- is organized, extremely detailed-oriented and committed to producing excellent work
- is skilled in building and maintaining strong relationships, and an effective lateral leader
- Oversees Elisa’s calendar and travel to ensure the CEO’s time is effectively managed and appropriately prioritized
- Partners with functional teams (e.g. development, public partnerships) to ensure Elisa is able to meet with prioritized external stakeholders/supporters to advance our organization’s top priorities
- Advises regional and national teams on the best way to engage with Elisa and provides support and feedback on how to best prepare Elisa for engagements
- Develops a knowledge of other teams’ priorities, understands how they align with the priorities of the Office of the CEO, and facilitates moving them forward
- Helps execute strategic projects driven by the Office of the CEO by providing project management and communications support
- Schedules and manages the logistics and operations for all national board meetings
- Ensures the Office of the CEO is a strong financial steward of the organization’s resources, by managing the team’s budget and ensuring spending practices are compliant with organizational policies
- Previous operations experience within Teach For America strongly preferred
- Knowledge of Teach For America’s financial compliance policies preferred
Skills
- Exceptional ability to build and execute a project plan
- Ability to make timely decisions and demonstrate good judgement
- Ability to tailor approaches to the interests and perspective of others
- is motivated by helping others operate at the highest level
- Poise, confidence, and maturity interacting with others
- Proven ability to negotiate, build strong relationships and earn the trust of key internal and external stakeholders at all levels
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- Exceptionally skilled in problem solving and improving processes through new ideas, including identifying and acting on areas of opportunity in a complex situation
- Comfort with ambiguity, frequent change, and unpredictability
Work Demands
- Some weekend and evening work or travel, may be required
- Ability to travel to in-person meeting in various US cities (approximately once every two months)
- Working with colleagues who are based across the country in various time zones